A distraught Alexander Zverev after losing to Jannik Sinner in the Australian Open final (Image: Getty)
Alexander Zverev has been told he needs a suspension and an injury to break his Grand Slam duck. The German recently made the final after retired from their semi-final clash through injury.
After the match, the Serbian great made it clear he would be rooting for in the final against defending champion “I wish Sascha (a shortened version of Alexander) all the best. You know, he deserves his first Slam. I’ll be cheering for him. Hopefully he can get it here.”
The 24-time Grand Slam champion then took to social media to post: “Congratulations to @AlexZverev for making another GS final. I wish you to win the title because you deserve it, my friend.”
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However, in his third Grand Slam final, it wasn’t to be for Zverev, who was beaten in straight sets by the world No.1. Djokovic’s belief in the 27-year-old, who has also reached the finals of the and is not shared by former top-10 player Arnaud Clement.
The ex-France Davis Cup captain cannot see Zverev ending his wait for a Grand Slam title at the French Open, which starts in May, unless Sinner is hit with a doping suspension and suffers an injury.
“I’m sorry to be strict, but I don’t think he has much chance of winning a major title anytime soon,” said Clement, 47, via “If there are no further improvements in his game between now and Roland Garros, he will hardly be able to win.
“If Sinner is suspended due to the doping case and Carlitos Alcaraz is injured, maybe Sascha will have a chance. However, if these two players are in good shape, the German has no chance of defeating them.”
Novak Djokovic is rooting for Zverev to win a Grand Slam title (Image: Getty)
Sinner made it three Grand Slam titles in a row on his favourite hard-court surface by beating Zverev in Melbourne. The Italian, 23, has not lost a match for nearly four months and dropped just two sets at Melbourne Park.
His next major hurdle is a Court of Arbitration for Sport hearing in April that could see him banned following two positive doping tests last March. He was cleared of blame by the initial investigation but that was appealed by the World Anti-Doping Agency.
If Sinner is allowed to compete over the summer, his main target will be to try to win a first Grand Slam title on either clay or grass courts. So far his best runs at the French Open and have been one semi-final each.
“Of course, on hard court I feel more comfortable,” he said. “I think that we can see. But I take it as positive because on the other surfaces, I still have to improve, I have to see how it works.”